I can only give it to you from my point of view. To me happiness is the ability to truly feel good about ourselves. Happiness is a feeling of deep contentment. Happiness is knowing who we are, where we fit, and that we matter. Happiness is being loved, and having the capacity, and the ability to love. Happiness is doing and being the right person, doing the right things.
There is a part of each person on earth, that desires and yearns to be happy. It’s because we are each part of something much greater than who we are in the here and now. We have each already experienced it, and our spirits know it well enough to recognize when we don’t have it.
There are many who believe that there is a supreme being who controls the universe. Others refer to it as a force. Still others discount that, and believe that we are alone in the universe, and that every part of our lives is nothing more than a long chain of chance and circumstance.
The truth as I see it, is that there is a God. And it is my conviction that we are each literally spiritual sons and daughters of God. Our spirits know him. We knew him well, before this mortality. We are a part of him and he is a part of us. We look like him, talk like him, and feel emotions like him. And like all children, no matter where you find them in nature, in the natural course of life, we grow up, and in our heart of hearts we yearn to be like our parents. It is a natural phenomena to spiritually desire to be like our Heavenly Parents. It is our purpose for being. Our spirits will never find true contentment, until we become, like our Father-In-Heaven.
I am convinced that happiness is governed by law. Just as all success is governed by law. Some may think that lasting success, or indeed happiness can be grabbed out of thin air like a magician’s trick, or can be had by some kind of short cut. But this goes contrary to the laws upon which it is predicated. One cannot learn to swim, if they never go into the water. One can never learn to love deeply, until developing a trust relationship. No amount of football will ever teach you to play the piano.
It is my experience and my conviction that the laws of happiness require service to others, gratitude for all that one has, continual personal improvement, being honest, trustworthy, and everything else that a boy scout promises to be. It requires that we love others, and allow others to love us. It requires that we respect others, and ourselves. It requires constant work, and our greatest efforts. It requires that we share our knowledge, our possessions, and our lives with others. To be happiest, it requires that we pattern our lives as close to the example set by Jesus Christ, as we can.
Some will find my words difficult to accept, maybe even offensive, but they are true and easy to test. You see, there is the truth factor. Scientifically, if something is true, then it will remain true in every circumstance. A person may never be rich, popular, famous, powerful, or sexy, but everyone can be happy, if they apply the laws of happiness.
Of course I know from personal experience that the path to happiness is not an easy one. The old adage that says “you don’t get something for nothing,” well, it’s a fact. One might think so when they pull the handle of the slot machine and win a fortune, but there is always a price. The cost is almost always at least the worth of the gain. Sometimes it is a great deal more. Sometimes the cost of the foolish things we buy, is so dear that whole lives are destroyed.
We might think that the price of happiness is to expensive to us to do it the right way, so we settle for other things that seem easier, like drugs, alcohol, infidelity in a marriage, child, parent, or spouse abuse, and the list could go on and on, but look at the cost one might pay for those substitutes. None of them will bring happiness.
Unlike financial success, happiness costs more and is harder to maintain. I think of my family, and my new wife. I marvel at the happiness I feel with those I love so deeply. Yet nothing about a family or a marriage is easy. Happiness takes constant work, with no vacations, and unlike any other part in our lives, there are never any short cuts to happiness. It seems that some people are able to attain it easier, but in reality they have either been constantly applying the law of happiness, or they just worked at it a lot more.
Happiness recognizes no financial barriers, no social class, no ethnic limitations and no geographical boundaries. Happiness is available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. If there are limits to it, they are the limits to which we ourselves have thrown in its way. If we follow the law that governs it, happiness will be ours.
Life happens to everyone, and everyone deals with their own unique situation differently. Some among us have lost limbs, spouses, parents, siblings, jobs, senses, liberty, even the use of their bodies, and still they find a way to be happy. While others gain financial independence, or even financial empires, unequaled fame, prestige, power, or influence and still their lives are cold, dark, alone and miserable.
What is the difference?
I don’t intend to write a book here, but I’ll try to explain it as briefly as I can. First of all, we have to understand ourselves, our very nature, to begin to understand why many of us are continually searching, and still are unable to find the happiness we seek. It goes back to our relationship with Deity. It is hard to be content until we are living up to our potential, or at least feel real progression toward our potential. The further away we get from that potential, the worse we feel. It sounds simple, but I know that it’s true. If we live the law of happiness, which includes drawing closer to our creator, then happiness is ours.
Understanding this has been a way for me to find happiness. It is something that I have to constantly work on, so I can be happy. I hope you find some of what I’ve written to be helpful. Like I told you before, I don’t claim to be an expert. I’m just sharing what I have learned to make me happy.
Until next time,
Jene
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